Disclaimer: Meitantei Conan is copyrighted to Gosho Aoyama and his genius. This story's representation of Death is copyrighted Neil Gaiman and his genius.

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"Poor girl. She was so young."

Edogawa Conan, a.k.a. Kudou Shin'ichi, tried to ignore the woman bending over and stroking the girl's pale face. The girl, Suzumiya Miho, was the unfortunate victim of a carefully planned murder by a jealous classmate, whose goal was to steal Miho's boyfriend. Needless to say, the latter part of the plan failed horribly when said murderer was slapped in the face by said boyfriend.

"She was a lucky girl, to be loved so much." A sigh. "At least they'll be together soon."

Conan spared a glance at the woman who was obviously much older than she looked. Her skin was a deathly shade, like that of Miho's, and she seemed to be dressed in the current Gothic Lolita fashion. And a glance was all that he gave her, since he had long figured out that none of the other people noticed this woman's presence. Talking to someone that wasn't there was a sign of insanity, after all, and he did so like to keep his reputation, crumbling as it was.

The woman kindly decided to elaborate. "He's going to commit suicide. Tomorrow night. After all his affairs are in order, of course. Such a tragedy, this kind of story, but at least they'll be happy."

The teenager-turned-child slowly walked off, seeking a quiet place. "Why do you follow me?" he asked suddenly, after deciding he was far enough away from prying eyes or ears. "You've never told me before. I first thought that it's because I find the bodies. Then I thought that you were the one to kill them, or at least bring about their deaths. Now…I don't know. Maybe it's one, or both, or neither. I just…I just want to know why? What have I done that warrants Death's attention?"

The woman, Death, she was commonly known as, crouched down in front of him and gently cupped his cheek; Conan was mildly surprised that her skin was warm and comforting. "Would you believe me if I said I liked you?"

A blank stare was her response.

A chuckle. "Thought not." She withdrew her hand. "You have an ability; one that you should be proud of. You can bring peace to many of the souls I take with me. You solve their murders…and they're happy for that. But I do not guide you here. You merely walk the pages in my Brother's book. Perhaps it's a small joke to him that I cross paths with you more than any mortal should. Perhaps it's something else. You interest me for that reason, and I do wish we'd first met under better circumstanced; you seem like such a nice boy."

"Conan-kun?" Ran's voice carried down the hallway; it seemed as if everyone was finally leaving the murder scene, which meant Mouri Kogoro had woken up.

Death stood up, still smiling down at him. "That is your answer, as best I can give. I don't follow you, rather, our jobs just happen to coincide with each other. But my Brother…" she shook her head playfully, "who knows what he's got in store for you."

"Who's your brother?"

"There you are! Come on, it's time to go." Ran apparently hadn't heard the boy say anything as she had walked up.

"Okay, Ran-nee-chan!" Conan said jovially, taking his best friend's hand and following her toward the car they had come in. He cast a look back at the woman he had seen far too many times.

Miho stood next to her, looking a bit nervous, as Death waved cheerfully at him, opening her mouth for one last answer.

"Destiny."

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A/N: I heard someone say, in a fanfic I read, that they had seen a Detective Conan fanart where the Grim Reaper stood behind Conan. now, I've looked for this picture, but haven't been able to find it. that was a few weeks ago.

for some reason, I started thinking about that picture again, and thought about another that I'd like to draw: Neil Gaiman's Death being amiable with Kudou/Conan. why not? the theme's similar. and upon thinking about that picture, the muses viciously attacked me, so I dropped everything else to write this.

…I'm not happy. but I'm writing it anyways.

…perhaps I'll do a prequel. After writing this, I can only imagine Kudou's reaction to seeing this woman for the first time, and consequentially freaking out. especially after seeing her multiple times at murder scenes, and leaving with the victim, who somehow seems alive, though their dead body is still on the ground.

…yes. amusing image.

……….God, this story sucks, and it's too short to boot, but I hope you guys'll like it.

Namaste